“Most assuredly,

I say to you,

unless one is

born of water

and the Spirit,

he cannot enter

the kingdom of God.

Jesus words, not mine!

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Spoken to a religious expert, they underscore the need for a supernatural gift of life before anyone can ‘see’ God’s world, never mind enter it!

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The weather was poor on Saturday, but I did manage to set up the table for 45 minutes before the rain fell. I spent all of that time talking with two people who know a great deal about Christianity but have never seen the need to be born from above and have not therefore entered into the Kingdom of God.

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The crying need of our generation is a life giving work of the Holy Spirit, Oh that the Lord would do what He alone can do, give light to the blind and life to the dead.

Regeneration Not Reformation

The message of salvation is regeneration—not reformation. Paul says, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). The new birth is not an overhaul of the “old wreck,” or a new paint job. The old Adamic nature is so incorrigibly corrupt that even God will not attempt to fix it up. He insists on completely rejecting the old hulk and making a new man. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you, You must be born again’“ (John 3:6, 7).
The old nature received at birth is hopeless, and dressing it up with education and culture only makes it more dangerous than before. The more we work on the “old man,” the more deceptive it becomes. Do you know why the sinner must be born anew? Because he was born all wrong the first time. He doesn’t have to be taught to go his own way—it comes naturally to him. But by the new birth he is turned around and headed in the right direction!
Spurgeon told of a missionary who visited a primitive hut and became nauseated by the filthy floor on which he had to sit. He suggested to his host that they scrub the dirty surface with soap and water, but the man replied, “the floor is just clay—packed down and dry. Add water and it turns to mud. The more you try to wash it, the worse the mess becomes!” Yes, the hut needed something besides an earthen floor. So it is with the human heart: it is hard and dirty, and nothing will help it. Man needs a new heart. He must be born again from above!